Maltose is a disaccharide, which is used in huge amounts in the candy industry. Maltose does not crystallize easily, in contradistinction to e.g. glucose, which is able to crystallize even in the presence of impurities in high concentrations. Maltose is not able to crystallize and thus to be purified further, unless the maltose used as a starting material exhibits a purity above 90%. Also, the fact that maltose does not crystallize easily is one of the reasons why maltose is a valuable raw material in the candy industry.
Maltose has also other applications, e.g. as the active component of intravenous injection liquids intended for provision of sugar for the patient and as a component in frozen deserts (due to the fact that the crystallization ability of maltose is very little), in the baking and brewing industry, and for production of maltitol, which can be used as a sweetening agent, like sorbitol, vide Glycose Sirups, Science and Technology, Elsevier Applied Science Publishers 1984, pages 117-135.
The prior art methods for production of maltose suffer from the disadvantage that they are rather cumbersome, especially if the maltose has to be prepared in a purity above 90%.
Thus, reference can be made to 44. Stärke-Tagung 21-23 April 1993 (reprint from BioTimes No. 4/93, edited by Novo Nordisk), and Die Stärke, 36 (1984), 405-411, Helle Outtrup and Barrie E. Norman. From the first of these two publications it appears that the maximum obtainable purity of maltose (when a mixture of three enzymes is used) is 80%, and from the second of these two publications it appears (page 10) that the maximum obtainable purity (at the highest enzyme dosage) is about 70%.